Packaging fluent products



Jan. 2, 1962 c. w. VOGT PACKAGING FLUENT PRODUCTS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Original Filed July 30, 1956 w E H 6 w L n F CL AMP/N6 INVENTOR.CLARENCE W Vofir HIS flTTORNEYS Jan. 2, 1962 c. w. VOGT PACKAGING FLUENTPRODUCTS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed July 50, 1956 INVENTOR.CLARENCE W V067.

HIS/4TTORNEY5 Jan. 2, 1962 c. w. VOGT 3,01

PACKAGING FLUENT PRODUCTS Original Filed July 30, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 3I INVENTOR. CLARE/vac W Voq' H 15 A TTORNEYS Jan. 2, 1962 c. w. VOGTPACKAGING FLUEINT PRODUCTS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed July 30, 19565 W m W 1 MM m. H m L a w W g +5 uswkk b23336 Unitcd States PatentedJan, 2,, l92

3,915,336 PACKAGING FLUENT PRGDU'QTS Clarence W. Vogt, Weston, Conn,(Box 232, Westport, Conn.)

Griginal application July 39, 1955, Sen No. llLllfaQ, now Patent No.2,934,867, May 3, 1969. Divided and this application Oct. 12, 1959, er.No. 845,831

Claims. (Cl. Ede-65;

This invention relates to improvements in packages for powdered,pulverulent or other fluent materials and it relates particularly toreinforced packages and methods of producing such packages.

This is a division of my application Serial No. 601,030, filed July 36,1956, now Patent No. 2,934,867.

As shown in my co-pending applications Serial No. 585,775, filed May 18,1956, now Patent No. 2,949,713, Serial No. 594,152, filed lune 27, 1956,now Patent No. 2,935,233, and Serial No. 595,249, filed luly 2, 1956,now Patent No. 2,949,711, I have provided apparatus by means of whichsheets or films of thermoplastic material can be deformed to fit intocavities of a mold element to form pockets or cavities in the sheetwhich then can be filled with a fluent or powdered material by means ofa pneumatic filling device. Thereafter, the filled pockets are coveredand closed with a sheet of material which is bonded to the portions ofthe film material around the periphery of the cavities to finish thepackages. A plurality of the individual packages can be folded togetherto form a generally square mold-compartment package.

The prior packages, when filled with a material which has substantialform retaining properties, are firm enough to withstand handling andshipment. However, with some materials of a less form retain ng typesuch as flour, cake mixes and the like, there is danger of deformationof the packages unless they are placed in cartons or protective covers.

in accordance with the present invention 1 have provided reinforcedpackages made out of thermoplastic sheet material whereby the resultingproduct has excellent form retaining properties, and can withstand roughhandling and impact.

More particularly, I have found that a reinforcing eleent can be placedon the outside of or inside the cavities formed in the sheet material sothat the reinforcement becomes a part of the finished package andreinforces its sides and/or ends and thereby afiords the necessaryprotection to the product.

For a better understanding of the present invention reference may be hadto the accompanying drawings in which:

FZGURE 1 is a schematic illustration of a typical apparatus forpracticing the method embodying the present invention, the apparatusbeing shown partly in section and partly broken away;

FIGURE 2 is a view in cross section through the apparatus taken on line22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a sheet of reinforcing material illustratingthe manner in which reinforcing elements for the packages can be cutfrom the sheet;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a folded reinforcement for one of thepackages;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a partially completed mold-compartmentpackage embodying the present invention;

FlGURE 6 is a view in cross section taken on line 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a view in section taken on line 7 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 8 is a view in cross section of the finished 2 package shown infolded condition with the reinforcements disposed around the outside ofthe package;

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of a portion of a modified type of sheetcontaining cavities and having reinforcing elements positioned adjacentto the pockets;

FlGURE 10 is a view in cross section through a filled package of thetype utilizing a reinforcing element of the kind shown in FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 11 is a plan view of a modified form of sheet having a pluralityof pairs of filled cavities therein and being partly broken away todisclose the reinforcing elements for the packages formed from thesheet;

FlGURE 12 is a view in cross section taken on line li -l2 of Fl-SURE l1illustrating the folding of the cover flaps for the packages;

FEGURE 13 is a view in longitudinal section of the package shown inFIGURE 12 illustrating the folding of the individual containers to forma completedpackage;

FIGURE 14 is a view in section taken on line l4 -14 or" FIGURE 13;

FlGURE 15 is a schematic illustration of a mod fied form of machineshown partly broken away and in section illustrating formation of amodified form of pack- FlGURE 16 is a view in cross section taken online 16- 16 of FIGURE 15;

FIGURE 17 is a view in cross section of a pair of composite packagessecured together with an over-wrap around them; and

FIGURE 18 is a view in crosssection taken on line 18-18 of FIGURE 17.

The present invention can of toe types disclosed tions Serial No.585,775 and Serial No. 594,152, and it involves generally the techniquesof forming and filling packages disclosed in those applications. Asillustrated in FIGURE 1, a typical apparatus may include a rotary moldwheel or drum it} which is provided with a plurality of mold sections11, 12, l3, l4, etc., extending around its periphery and each beingprovided with a plurality of molding cavities 15 arranged in pairs ormultiples of pairs extending transversely and lengthwise of the moldsections. As shown in FIGURE 1, each mold section includes two moldcavities 15 but it is also possible to have more than two rows ofcavities and more than one cavity in each row. As illustrated, the sidewalls of the mold cavity are to wed of porous sintered metal plates 16and 17 arranged at an angle to each other and held in position by meansof cap pieces 18, 19 and 29. The plate 17 is provided with openingsZlnear its inner edge which are adapted to be connected to a pipe 22communicating with a manifold and vacuum pump (not shown) as describedmore particularly in application Serial No. 585,775. Similarly, theplate 16 has openings 23 therein communicating with a chamber 24 whichalso is connected to the manifold by means of a pipe 25. A plurality ofopenings 26 are also formed in the ends 2'7 of the mold cavities andthey also communicate with the vacuum pump. All of the openings 21, 23and 26 are exaggerated in size in the drawings.

in operation, each of the mold cavities 15 receives a reinforcingelement 28 which is held in the mold cavity by suction exerted throughthe o enings 23 and 26. The mold cavities contain ng the elements 23are-then moved beneath an electric heater 3% or its equivalentand thecla rping frame 31 and 'a sheet of thermoplastic material M such aspolyethylene, polyvinyl or the like is fed between the heater andclamping frame and the open mold cavities 15. The heater 3% softens thesheet material M while the frame 31 clamps the sheet against the moldelement around the outer edges of the cavities 15, 15.

be practiced with apparatus generally in my copending applicaer-allysquare package as shown in FlGUREs.

lapping flmges :39 and 40 at the outer edges of the packs,o15,ese

When the material is softened, the pressure in the mold cavities isreduced by the vacuumpump to shape the plastic material into conformitywith the shape of the mold cavities 15, 15 and the inner face of thereinforcement 28 in thecavity. The clamping frame 31 retains the film intight engagement with the cap pieces 19 and 29 of the mold section sothat smooth and uniformly shaped cavities or pockets 32, 32 are formedin the film at a Zone corresponding to each of the mold cavities.

.The mold drum 10 then advances one step to bring the mold cavitycontaining the reinforcement and the sheet M with the preformed cavities32, 32 therein be neath the filling head H where the fluent or powderedmaterial is introduced into the pockets filring them. The

' filling head may be of the kinds shown in either of co board, heavywaxed paper or other relatively stiff sheet material. Each reinforcingelement includes a generally rectangular mid-portion 28:: whichcorresponds to a side 16 or 17 of the mold cavity and it includestriangular end portions 28b and 280 which correspond to'the crosssection of the cavity or the shape of its ends.

It will be understood, of course, that the shape of the triangular endpor ions can be modified, dependingupon the shape of the package to beproduced and that the reinforcing element, if desired, can be sodesigned and constructed that it will cover the opposite sides 16 and l!of the cavity while leaving the ends 27 open for escape of airtherethrough.

The reinforcement 28 shown in FIGURE 4 can be readily produced with aminimum of waste in the manner shown in FIGURE 3. Thus, oppositelyfacing rows of the reinforcements 2% may be struck out of the sheetmaterial with their end edges complementally disposed so that they canbe shaped by a zig-zag cut 33 between each row of reinforcements. Theonly waste will be the small triangular sections 34 at each edge of thesheet.

As indicated above, the unit packages are completed by covering the opensides of thecavities 32 in a suitable way and thereafter folding orre-arranging the unit packages so produced to give maximum protection tothe contents by means of the plastic covering and the rein -the cavities32 formed in the material M are filled, the

edge portions 35 and 3e are folded over and sealed to the portion of thesheet around the cavities 32, 32 and their edges brought into abuttingrelation to form a fin seal 37 extending transversely of the packages asshown .in, FIGURES '2 and 5. After thefin seal 37 has. been formed,itjcan be folded flat againstthe adjacent side of ,the package as shownin FIGURES and 6. Thereafter, the'two triangular packages are foldedalong the center of the web portion 38 between them to form a gen-Overage can be spot sealed permanently or releasably. In the form ofpackage j-ust described, the rcinforcemen'ts '23 on opposite'sides ofthe package extend around both ends and around two sides ofthe'package-to form a stifi and sturdyperipheral enclosure for thecomposite pack- I age,. Moreover, additional reinforcement is afiordedby 4 3 sheet portions 35 and 36 extending diagonally through thepackage.

While it is preferred to fold the edges 35 and 36 of the sheet over thepackage or otherwise provide 'a cover sheet for the open sides of theindividual packages or pockets, it will be understood that the side edgeportions 3 5 and 36 can be omitted and the sheet can be folded to placethe filled and uncovered cavities therein into faceto-face engagementwithout the intervening sheets 35 and 36 thereby forming a single blockof material enclosed within the film material and having thereinforcements extending around two of its sides and its ends.

While the cover flaps 35 and 36 may be continuous with the remainder ofthe web, as shown in FIGURES 9 and 10, it is possible to form thecavities 45, 46, etc., ina narrower sheet or web 47 and to secure coverstrips 48 and 49 to the edges of the sheet 47 by means of overlappedseams 50, 51. The edge strips 48 and 49 are folded over to form theclosures and the seal 52 extend ing along the center line of thepackages. Thereafter, the packages with the reinforcing elements 28 arefolded to form the rectangular double-compartment packages disclosed inFIGURE 8.

FEGURES 11 to 13 show another method of assembling the packages intogenerally square cross-section, multiple compartment units. As shown inFIGURES ll and 12, a sheet of thermo-plastic material 55 is draped andshaped overpairs of molds arranged in rows so that two cavities orpockets 56 and 57 are formed in end-toend relation transversely of theweb 55. Also shown in FIGURE 11, the reinforcements 23 are arrangedoutside the cavities 56 and 57 in oppositely facing relation. After thecavities 56 and 57 are filled, the edge portions 59 and 6d of the web 55are folded over to overlap the web portion 61 between the ends of thecavities 56 and 57 and are sealed to the sheet 55 around the peripheriesof the cavities 56 and 57. Each package is closed by the edge portion 59or oil of the Web. The pairs of packages 62 and 63 can be separated bycutting sheet 5'5 transversely and they may then be folded along thecenter line of the web 61 into the position shown in FIGURES l3 and 14in which the flaps 59 and 60 are disposed between the packages and thereinforcing elements 28 extend around the ends and along the twoopposite sides of the package.

While each of the packages described above has its clo sure or coverflap formed of the same or similar material as the sheet containing therecesses or cavities for receiving the fluent material, it will beunderstood that the open sides or mouth of the cavities may be coveredby means of separately supplied sheets. Moreover, the reinforcements canbe placed within the packages.

EGURES l5 and 16 illustrate a modification of the apparatus and methoddescribed above to produce such packages. As shown in FIGURE 15, theapparatus includes a mold wheel having molding cavities '71, 72 formedin each section 73 thereof. A clamping frame 74 for holding the plasticfilm material M against a mold section 73 is disposed in spaced relationto the filling head 75. In this way, the thermo-plastic sheet materialis fed between the heater 7 6 within the clamping frame 7d and the moldcavity Hand 72 and when areduced pressure is exerted through the pipes77 and 78 communicating with the bottoms of the cavities 71' and 72therein, the sheet material is stretched to fit the interior. of themolds and form cavities therein. Thereaftera reinforcing element 79similar to the element 28, is introduced into each of the cavities 80,81 formed in the'sheet material. The mold drum then carries the cavities8t 81 beneath the filling head where the fluent material is introducedinto the cavities S0 and 81 to fill them. After filling the cavitiestltland 81, they pass beneath a sealing head 33 of polygonal formationhaving cutting knives 85 at each of its corners by means of which thecontinuous cover sheet 86 can be cut into pieces of proper size'to coverthe filled cavities 81 and 80 and overlap and be secured to the webportion 87 extending around the periphery of the cavities and the webportion 88 between the cavities. In order to hold the severed sections90 of the sheet material on the sealing head 83 after the sheet is cutby the knives '85, a fixed suction manifold 91 (having a suctionconnection 91) is provided at the end of the sealing head so that therecesses 92 and 93 behind the severed sections 900i the sheet may bemaintained at a reduced pressure until the severed sections are appliedand secured to the web portion 87. Moreover, the pressing head is heatedin any suitable way as e.g., by means of an electrical heating element(not shown) so that when the head 83 is brought down into contact withthe mold drum, the severed section 90 of the sheet 86, e.g., is sealedto web portions 87, 88, thereby sealing the cavities and enclosing thematerial therein. 1f desired, a slight pressure may be introduced(through pipe 9-3) to facilitate the removal of the severed portion fromthe sealing head. It will be understood that the completed packages arethen separated from the sheet M by means of a cutting device 95.

After completion of the packages 96 and 97, they are ejected from themold cavities 71 and 72 and the unit packages 96 and 97 folded intoface-to-face relation to provide square cross-section multi-compartmentpackages like those described above.

The folded packages may have the webs or fins at their edges heat sealedor otherwise joined together. A plurality of the multi-compartmentpackages can be provided with an over-wrap 98 of plastic material,coated paper or the like as shown in FIGURES 17 and 18. In order toproduce a more attractive package and reduce the air space within theover-wrap 98 to a minimum, the fins at the edges of the packages may befolded against the side of the package. Thus the fins 99 which extendlengthwise of the package may be folded against one side while the endfins 100 shown in FIGURE 18 may be folded against the ends of thepackage and flattened out to conserve space. Due to the extremely thinnature of the film material from which the wrappers are made, the airspaces are actually only a few thousandths of an inch thick.

While the invention has been described with reference to the provisionof multi-compartment or single compartment packages of generally squarecross-section, it will be understood that the shape of the cavities inthe mold drum may be semi-cylindrical, trapezoidal or even almostrectangular in shape due to the fact that the material introduced intothe packages is somewhat deformable thereby allowing the packages to beejected from the mold cavities without sticking.

From the preceding description of typical embodiments of the presentinvention, it will be understood that the packages and their productionare susceptible to considerable modification. Accordingly, the forms ofthe invention described herein should be considered as illustrativeonly.

I claim:

1. A package comprising a pair of sections of thermoplastic sheetmaterial, each having a cavity therein filled with fluent material, saidcavities having open top sides and closed bottom and end portions, saidcavities having their open top sides in opposed relation and saidsections being joined around the peripheries of said open sides, andreinforcing strips secured to said sections and extending around partsof the bottom portions and said end portions of each section to providea peripheral enclosure for said package extending around its ends andtwo opposite sides.

2. The package set forth in claim 1 comprising thin flexible sheetmaterial interposed between said sections and sealing the open side ofeach cavity.

3. A multi-unit package comprising a plurality of the packages set forthin claim 1 enclosed within a wrapper retaining said packages inside-by-side relation and with said reinforcing strips extendingcircumferentially within said wrapper.

4. A package comprising a sheet of flexible thermoplastic materialhaving a pair of cavities in it filled with fluent material, the sheethaving lateral edge portions folded over and covering said cavities andsealed to the sheet around the peripheries of said cavities, said sheetbeing further folded between said cavities to dispose them insuperimposed relation with the folded-over portions between thecavities.

5. The package Set forth in claim 4 in which said cavities aretriangular in cross-section and have rectangular side walls, and areinforcing member secured to said sheet and reinforcing at least onewall and the ends of each cavity, said reinforcing members beingdisposed in end-to-end relation to form a peripheral enclosure extendingaround the ends and two opposite sides of said package.

References Cited in the file of this patent France May 23, 1951

1. A PACKAGE COMPRISING A PAIR OF SECTIONS OF THERMOPLASTIC SHEET MATERIAL, EACH HAVING A CAVITY THEREIN FILLED WITH FLUENT MATERIAL, SAID CAVITIES HAVING OPEN TO SIDES AND CLOSED BOTTOM AND END PORTIONS, SAID CAVITIES HAVING THEIR OPEN TOP SIDES IN OPPESED RELATION AND SAD SECTIONS BEING JOINED AROUND THE PERIPHERIES OF SAID OPEN SIDE, AND REINFORCING STRIPS SECURED TO SAID SECTIONS AND EXTENDING AROUNG PARTS OF THE BOTTOM PORTIONS AND SAID END PORTIONS OF EACH SECTION TO PROVIDE A PERIPHERAL ENCLOSURE FOR SAID PACKAGE EXTENDING AROUND ITS ENDS AND TWO OPPOSITE SIDES. 